Assassins Through Time
by Inuryu
Summary: Fill from Kink Meme.  Altair goes in search of pieces of eden and gets caught by ahriman.  Many years later Ezio follows his path end with help from the past restores the wasteland and secures the piece of eden Altair was searching for many years ago.
1. Prologue

Prologue

A horse and its rider were moving swiftly across a desert in the night. The man dressed in white robes was following rumors that had spread to the edge of the Mediterranean of barren lands that were suddenly becoming rejuvenated. It had not been long from the time that he had secured the apple that he started to hear these rumors. The fanciful qualities to these stories led him to believe that the rejuvenation was the effect of a piece of Eden. Altair, the rider, had followed these rumors for weeks tracking them to their source, a temple located in the barren deserts of Persia.

After days in the sun he finally came in sight of the plateau in which the temple was hidden. Altair increased his pace so that he was able to reach the plateau within the day. With the increased pace he was able to reach the entrance by nightfall, but as he made camp a strange howling reverberated from within the plateau. Seconds after the howl quieted another man, dressed differently from the guards, came sprinting out of the opening in the side of the plateau. Altair stood to meet this possible threat, but did not attack as the man slowed to a stop in front of his fire. The man wore a strange head wrap in blue and red, some leather armor, and a sword at his hip, but the most interesting part of his attire was the gauntlet he wore. The points of each of the fingers was shaped into what appeared to be claws.

The stranger calmed his breathing and looked up at Altair who had yet to lower his guard. "What luck to find someone here. I don't know how I would have crossed the desert again without my donkey." Holding out his hand the man introduced himself as "Prince" which Altair raised an eyebrow to, but he immediately responded in kind. "What was it that you were running from?" Altair asked while looking into the opening in the rock.

"The end of the world, what else?" Prince said with a strained laugh. Altair looked at him unconvinced and replied "I don't know, but I must find out myself tomorrow."

"So I guess I can't hitch a ride with you across the desert. I should have known, why else would you be here of all places."

"You can come with me, but only if you accompany me back into the plateau while I investigate."

"Go back in there? That'll be the death of me!"

"So would be walking across the desert alone." Prince grumbled in response to the reason Altair placed before him.

"Alright, but wait until tomorrow."

"That's fine with me," Altair rolled onto his side to sleep, thus ending the conversation.

The next day Altair led the horse to the edge of an oasis that he spotted nearby then returned to the camp to head off into the plateau. He walked with Prince to the opening in the solid rock wall only to find a great chasm stretched between the edge he was standing on and the next ledge that lead into the gap.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get moving." Prince impatiently prodded Altair as he stood stock still.

"How am I supposed to cross this? It's too far for me to just jump."

"You have to be kidding me, you don't know how to wall run?"

"What are you talking about?"

The other man rolled his eyes and held up his gauntlet, "It's the reason I wear this. I can grip the wall while I run over short distances along it, here I'll show you." Prince then jumped up to a wall that had dozens of horizontal scratches on it and started running while dragging the clawed gauntlet behind him. He jumped off of the wall landing on the platform on the other side. "Now try that, even if you fall at least here you can get back up on that side." Prince encouraged Altair as he contemplated what weapons he could use to gain purchase on the wall as he ran. Finally settling on one of his curved knives Altair jumped at the wall and ran across it trailing the knife behind him. He landed safely on the other side with a grin.

"Now keep that in mind, I can tell you that technique will be most useful within this area." Grinning and staring at his knife Altair responded, "I can think of some other places where this would be very useful." In this manner Prince and Altair traversed the path to the center of the plateau, which expanded into a vast wasteland much like outside the cliffs. In the center of this wasteland was a giant temple that was covered by the shell of a tree. Two staircases wound up to a giant door that lead into the temple. Altair stood in awe of the place for a moment, then quickly started towards it.

Prince continually tried to persuade Altair from going to the temple, but without hesitation Altair continued on convinced that what he wanted would be within it. Even up to the doors of the temple Prince pleaded with him not to try to enter. The assassin ignored him and continued inside while the thief remained behind. The entrance hallway was quiet, but it was not until he looked at the door on the opposite side of the hallway that Altair started to be discouraged. The door was tainted black, not matching the earth tones of the rest of the hallway. But still he pushed onward even to the door which seemed to give off a stronger sense of warning with each step he took towards it.

Altair pushed open the door, sure that what he searched for would be inside, but all that appeared before him was a black void which engulfed him. In that second several hundred years in the future Desmond Miles jolted awake from his reclining position on the Animus.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The room was in chaos as the sudden awakening of Desmond caused all of the alarms on the machines around the Animus to go haywire. Desmond himself was panting and felt as if he had just been swallowed by the darkness within the temple himself. Due to the bleeding effect and his sudden extraction from the Animus he still felt the unusual sensation of fear as it coursed through the ancient assassin's body. When the feeling had finally dissipated the machines had calmed down enough for the people manning the machines to allow some worry for the man attached to them.

"What happened? Why did I desynchronize so abruptly?"

"I would assume that either Altair was killed or that is the last memory of him," replied Rebecca from at the computer. "Either way I will investigate it further, for now why don't you practice what you learned?"

Desmond nodded in reply then headed to the training area in the warehouse. With only a few mistakes he was able to replicate what the Prince had shown Altair on his way to the temple. The new skill allowed him to traverse distances in a single jump that he would have otherwise have missed or had to take a roundabout way to get to the other side. After several more successful attempts, Desmond walked back into the room with the Animus, but it appeared that Rebecca could not determine the reason for the desynchronization. Even when trying to resynchronize with Altair at that moment or afterwards there was no success. So the team moved on to the next subject of interest, all assuming that Altair's story had ended.

0000000000000

It was several months of trudging through Ezio's memories that they again found a mention of the place in which the last memory of Altair ended. The source of the information was in a rumor that had once again spread through the Mediterranean. This rumor quickly reached the ears of the network of thieves and assassins that were under Ezio's control. Within days Ezio was sailing his way towards the Ottoman Empire in which these old lands were contained. The journey took several months to complete, but at the end Ezio found himself at the same plateau that his ancestor had found several hundred years before while searching for the same elusive artifact. He had read records of the disappearance of Altair after his journey to this place, but he still did not know what to expect.

(AN: Sorry for the short chapter, it was all I could get out tonight and I needed to progress the story past the point it was at. This is going to be short because I need to be able to finish it, so sorry if it feels like it is being rushed.)


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ezio examined the passageway that lead into the mountain, but due to the rugged nature of the passages, he searched around the plateau for any other way in, but finding none, he picked his way through the rubble that lay between the ledges. It seemed as if the years had taken their tole on the passageway. Where once it seemed to be ledges placed far apart were now eroded blocks of rubble that littered the floor. He followed the path for what seemed like forever until it opened out into the great plain. Stunned for a moment at the great expanse of space that was within the plateau, Ezio hardly noticed the temple that was covered by an old dead tree. When he noticed he made a beeline for the temple assuming that the temple would have been the first place Altair would have entered as well.

Upon seeing that there was no door on the bottom level he walked up the stairs while admiring the strange disks that were arranged on the floor of the bottom level. Just as Ezio stepped in front of the door on the top level a bright light shone behind him. He turned around and found the image of a woman floating before him.

"What? Who are you and where did you come from?" Ezio screamed at the woman, which was very unusual for him, but the idea of her sneaking up on him did not set well with him.

"I've been here since before you came here. I should be asking those questions." It was at this point that Ezio noticed that she was translucent and floating, unnerving him even further before she asked, "Who are you and why are you here? This is my grave as well as that of the prince of Persia who tried to save this land."

"I'm here following the trail that a previous Grand Master of my order left before he disappeared. He came here searching for a precious artifact. Would you know of anything of that type?"

"You still didn't answer who you are, but I guess one answer in exchange for another is a fair deal. Within this temple is a tree that may be something you are looking for. But I would not enter that temple currently."

"Why is that, signora?"

"Not yet, answer my question first then I'll give you your answer."

"Okay, okay. I'm from the order of assassins based in Italy; you may call me Ezio."

"Alright Ezio, the reason you don't want to go in that temple is because the great evil of Ahriman is in it." Ezio smirked, thinking it was a joke, "You don't believe me? Then what do you think happened to your ancestor when he tried to enter? Ahriman swallows up anything that comes near his pestilence." Frowning Ezio turned to the door then asked, "Then how do I enter to see the tree?"

"You could follow the footsteps of the prince who lies here and cleanse the temple of Ahriman and succeed where the prince failed. But there is a problem."

"What now?" Ezio groaned.

"In this body I can't cleanse the Fertile Grounds like I used to."

"Wonderful, so how am I going to get to the tree now?"

"It's possible if you could take me to the Fertile Grounds."

"How? Possession?" Ezio exclaimed sarcastically.

"That's what I was thinking." Elika said with a smile.


	4. Chapter 3

AN: I'm sorry that this is so short, I have a question to put to the readers: I am stumped with what to do with the area bosses, if anyone has any suggestions I would like to know, otherwise I'm going to be skipping over them.

Chapter 3

Eventually Ezio agreed for Elika to use his body as a mode of transport to the Fertile Grounds. He was extremely uncomfortable with the situation, but he did not have a choice in the matter, it was either act as a transport for Elika or never obtain the possible piece of eden from within the temple. His obligations to the Brotherhood made the choice for him. But he must admit that Elika's access to his mind nearly made him kick her out the first time. He'd been getting non stop comments about his "dirty" mind since then. He had learned Elika's name the moment she entered his head since she had not obliged to give it earlier.

While traveling through the plain she used magic to help him along the way. Several times when crossing spaces between ledges Ezio saw deep gouges in the walls to the right and left of the gap. When he asked Elika about it she told him that the prince wore a gauntlet with clawed fingertips that allowed him to hold onto the wall while he ran across it. The gauntlet also allowed him to slide down vertical drops without hurting himself. "Could you show me how this worked? I have a feeling I will not be able to continue without this skill at some point."

"Of course," she replied and started to send mental images of the prince wall running. "If you could find a way to imitate it the skill will help you greatly."

"Let's see..." Ezio looked through his arsenal to see if he had any weapons on him that would allow him to accomplish the task. He pulled out a curved knife he had owned since before the fall of Monterrigioni. It wasn't very useful except for decorative purpose and thus he wondered why he had brought it with him. "Let's see if this works," he said as he walked up to a ledge that he could easily get back up from. He ran at the wall and, in a great imitation of his ancestor, used his knife as a support for the wall run.


	5. Chapter 4

[AN: Ignore the question in the last chapter, I figured out what i wanted to do when I sat down and started writing. there may only be about 2 chapters left. I'll have to see how the next one unfolds.]

Chapter 4

Using methods that were revealed by Elika's memories of her journey with the prince Ezio traversed through the different fertile grounds that were contained within the canyon. After fighting the Hunter, Alchemist, Concubine, and Warrior and sealing off their respective areas Ezio found himself again in front of the Temple. The frightening power of the minions of Ahriman quelled the previous eagerness that Ezio had for entering the temple. He now dreaded coming face to face with the monster that gave power to the former humans to become his minions. But Ezio was strengthened by the power of the Fertile Grounds behind him.

Elika, who had become a welcome presence in his mind was now just a faint glimmer of energy as he took the steps to the entrance to the temple. He knew that she would not last this final encounter, but he also knew that it was a necessary sacrifice to complete his mission. The years as a master assassin taught him that he was not always able to save everyone if the objective was to be completed. Weighing the choices Ezio's decision was made by his allegiance to the Brotherhood, just as it was when he set out on this quest.

Ezio entered the temple and at once noticed the absence of the miasma that had clung to the doors. Power was seeping from the trees to push back the power of Ahriman. Entering the chamber of the Tree of Souls, Ezio came face to face with the source of the swirling miasma. The figure appeared to be a conglomeration of many bodies and forms all covered by the black miasma. It never retained one shape for more than a second, but with Ezio's entrance the form took on a menacing shape so as to fight Ezio. He clashed swords with the monster and after several strikes he recognized a familiarity to the fighting style. Ahriman had absorbed the style of the assassins from Altair.

The fight grew increasingly difficult as the monster switched between Altair's style of fighting to unknown styles, probably gained from absorbing other warriors foolish enough to enter the room. Ezio was having to push himself to keep up with Ahriman. The fight seemed to go on for hours and it was tiring Ezio. Finally his strength failed him and Ahriman made to lunge his blade through Ezio's heart, but at the last moment a flash of magic came from within Ezio. The magic both stopped the blow from Ahriman and restored Ezio's strength to a level he had not felt in years. With the aid of surprise and this new power Ezio slew Ahriman in one blow from his hidden blade.

The darkness faded from the room leaving behind three unconscious men on the floor and a glowing tree in the background. Ezio recognized the hood of an assassin immediately in the group of unconscious men. Ash they were waking up Ezio rushed over to the assassin, his heart rushing at the thought of who this ancient assassin would be. When the assassin rolled over to look Ezio in the face he at once recognized the visage of the great Altair. Somehow the power of Ahriman had kept him alive all these years.

Before he could say anything Elika's spirit left his body and drew his attention elsewhere. The other two men where awake and staring around in confusion. Elika skipped the introductions and addressed the two men, "Prince, Father, you were both captured and absorbed by Ahriman. No matter what you were trying to do before, the monster is dead and sealed away so that no one may reach him. You two are alive, even though it has been more than a hundred years, you must live and find a purpose in this life. I will pass on to where you will not be able to revive me again; I used the last of my power to aid Ezio here in striking the final blow against Ahriman. The fertile grounds have been restored and peace has come to the land. Farewell my father and my prince, I will greet you in the afterlife." With those words the specter of Elika faded. Elika's father turned to the prince then to the two assassins and left without a word. The prince however offered his thanks to Ezio and turned to Altair, "Didn't I warn you about that door?" He laughed, then left with a quick goodbye as a man would if they were anxious to continue a quest they had long delayed upon.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

With their departure Ezio stared face to face with his ancestor and fellow master assassin. Altair looked at him with suspicion, obviously not knowing what to make of the other hooded man. Ezio realizing this introduced himself as the Grand Master of the Brotherhood. Altair responded likewise, and turned to their mutual goal that stood in the room. The tree shown with a unearthly glow, and all of the life in the room seemed to originate from the tree.

"Do you think that it is really a piece of eden?" Ezio asked Altair.

"There's only one way to find out." Altair answered and reached out to touch the tree. There was a sudden flash of disjointed memories that flowed from the tree when Altair touched it. He quickly recoiled his hand at the shock and the images stopped flowing. "I'd believe that this tree is a piece of eden. It would be the tree of eden which would explain the images."

"What should we do with it then? We can't move it from this spot," Ezio asked as he marveled at the man he always dreamed of meeting.

"That is true, and that is why I will stay here to guard it until the order has some need of it."

"Why would you do that? You could be so much help to the Brotherhood as a mentor and master assassin."

"That is exactly why I choose to stay here, I could never fit in with the order now. The fact that you already knew my name and look at me like that tells me enough. The order of your brotherhood would be uprooted and hierarchies would become useless. Plus there is nothing out there for me anymore, everyone I knew has died by now. I would rather stay here and be helpful to the order by protecting a valuable asset." Ezio gazed at him as if he would like to disagree, but he could find no reason against Altair's argument.

"Alright Altair, I will agree to what you say, and do not worry about word of your return reaching the rest of the order."

"Thank you, Ezio."

"Safety and peace, brother."

"Safety and peace." With the farewell Ezio turned and left the temple to return to Italy.


	7. Chapter 6

[AN: Final chapter! Although to me it feels sorta like an epilouge, but oh well. Please tell me what you think of the job I did with the story, especially if you read to this point.]

Chapter 6

Desmond awoke slowly when the memory ended and he came out of the animus. The things he learned from the meeting in the canyon made him curious if that place still existed, and if Ezio or any other grand master called Altair back from that place. He expected not to the second question because there was no record of it anywhere and Altair for sure would be dead at this point. But he was still interested in finding more about this mysterious location where both of his ancestors had come together at. It was like the temple was calling to him to tread upon the stones where both Altair and Ezio had tread together. The thought of the temple and the canyon plagued Desmond for days while they were searching for memories to follow. Shawn kept having to shake him back to reality when his thoughts started to wander off to the temple again or to old documents containing the rumored directions to the canyon. Ezio, himself, had apparently left no record of the path he took to the canyon.

Finally he had had enough and ordered Desmond to take a vacation or something since he was not helping with the work on the animus. So Desmond discretely ordered a plane ticket to one of the most hostile areas in the world at the moment, hoping to be able to find this mysterious canyon.

He arrived in the Middle East luckily during a calm time and was able to hire a means of transportation for the few days he expected it to take to get to the canyon and back. Desmond had to rely on locations of ancient settlements as landmarks for finding his way there; so when a town or city was mentioned that no longer existed on any map, Desmond had to guess his way. Using the horses he had hired it took him longer than expected, but eventually he reached what he expected was the canyon. There was only one time battered entrance that looked even worse than it did in Ezio's time, but the same general shape was the same. Desmond picked his way through the entrance and found inside the open plain he had seen several times in the memories of his ancestors. But even with seeing it through their eyes the sight of the open area that was filled with greenery and the giant tree covered temple awed him. When he had last seen the plain it was only full of sand, but apparently the work of his ancestor had allowed plants to grow here once again.

Knowing immediately where he had to go Desmond ran towards the temple. He took the steps two at a time, rippling with excitement at what he would find behind the doors of the temple. Desmond pushed the outer doors open and ran the length of the hallway until he was a few feet from the door. He slowed down, his emotions changing to apprehension at what he was about to do, but with a rush of determination he thrust open the doors in front of him. Inside he came face to face with a man in a white hood who he never in a thousand years hope to ever meet.

"Welcome Brother."


End file.
